


Awakening of the Enceinte

by attackstance



Category: SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Barebacking, Double Penetration, M/M, Minor Violence, Smut, Temperature Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 00:11:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20684261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackstance/pseuds/attackstance
Summary: Yukhei's soul may bear a long lineage of bravery, but his enigmatic new companions make him feel everything but brave.





	Awakening of the Enceinte

**Author's Note:**

> Porn befitting a hero. Borrows from _The Legend of Zelda_ series. Optional visuals found [here](https://twitter.com/reinefleche/status/1174481162758172672).

“No! Get away from me! H-how’d you get down here?!”

In his panic, Yukhei foolishly dropped the weaponry he only just found. Unarmed and planted on his backside, he's at the mercy of the spirits before him.

With how swiftly corruption has swept over his homeland, happenings like this shouldn’t come as a surprise to him. A tyrant of a woman usurped the king and unleashed a plague of monsters on the world some years ago, peace is a rarity. Yukhei’s village is small and can only hold its defense for so long before it’s devoured by the tyrant’s minions. He only ventured into the depths of the forbidden temple behind his village after recalling a letter from his late grandfather, the instructions for him to explore the depths of this temple should he ever face great danger.

Yukhei was desperate with the threat of ruin looming at the village bounds and followed his grandfather’s words to a hidden chamber beneath the temple, only for the heavy doors to seal shut behind him and the torches along the walls to light up of their own accord, illuminating the stone pedestal where a brilliant sword and its companion shield lied in wait. The moment he took the items from their perch was when the two spirits materialized on either side of him, making him stumble away in fright.

They don’t _look _particularly menacing, no more or less than any other human, but Yukhei knows his sight is a naïve judge of character. They wear only fragments of lustrous armor, gorgets around their necks and epaulettes on their shoulders, vambraces to cover their forearms and greaves to cover their calves, but the rest is bare flesh Yukhei can easily pierce with the sword _if_ he can recover it. The taller spirit is icy blue in his hair and eyes and the sheer cloth wrapped around his waist, while the shorter is blazing red down to his loincloth.

They don’t respond for several tense moments. Yukhei readies to scramble to his feet and pound on the sealed door for help, but they move before he can. They crouch down in unison and pick up Yukhei’s fallen weaponry, the red spirit taking the sword while the blue takes the shield. Yukhei is already counting down the precious few breaths of life he has left as they approach, his frantic eyes darting between them.

“W-Wait, just…just hold on! I swear I didn’t mean to touch those if they’re yours! So there’s no reason to hurt me, right? Come on, we should talk about—!”

The blue spirit holds the shield out to Yukhei. “I believe you dropped this.”

He’s smiling politely, and his red counterpart looks entirely amused by Yukhei’s hysterics. Yukhei hesitantly accepts the shield with trembling hands, then the sword the red spirit offers him.

“It wasn’t my intent to scare him,” the blue spirit murmurs ruefully to the red spirit, who clucks his tongue in return.

“Silly boy. What’s there to fear? We’re darling, especially _him_.” Their gazes lock and the atmosphere begins to smother Yukhei with something he’d rather ignore.

Yukhei stands to his feet while they’re distracted and raises his shield protectively. His height advantage over them gives him comfort, only slight. “Who _are_ you? You’re not…going to hurt me, right?”

They shake their heads and answer as one, **“The very opposite, actually.”**

The red spirit lays his right palm over his chest. “I’m Ten, who cuts the path through to the light.”

The blue spirit lays his left palm over his chest. “I’m Taeyong, who wards off the reaches of the darkness.”

Their palms meet between them in a ritual oath, red fingernails glittering in the light opposite blue ones. **“We swear to aid you, protector across time’s weave, as your sword and your shield. In this meeting and the next.”**

Yukhei hears them, repeats their oath in head, yet he understands it no better than the first time. Hero? His sword and shield? The _next_ meeting_?_ “Um…huh?”

Ten sighs a weary sigh. “Oh, dear hero, are you saying you truly don’t recognize me?” His arms wrap demurely around his own torso and he leers at Yukhei under dark lashes. “You’ve been holding onto me _so_ _tightly_ since I gave myself to you, not unlike a lover I recall so vividly.”

Heat rises to Yukhei’s cheeks in an instant. “Woah, w_hat?!_ What does that mean?! I definitely would’ve remembered…” When his sword arm flails in distress, Yukhei catches a glint of red. He didn’t have a chance to examine the arming sword at first, but now he notices the salamanite gem embedded in the hilt, a passionate red that resembles the fiery spirit in front of him, and then their earlier introduction make sense.

“Gah!” Yukhei drops the sword and bodily recoils. No wonder these spirits appeared so suddenly without provocation—he almost stole _them!_

Taeyong hides his amusement behind his hand while Ten roars and jabs his finger at Yukhei. “Hey, watch your grip, you oaf! That’s expert craftsmanship you’re tossing about. Pick me up this instant!”

“No, no way! I don’t know what…bits of you I’m touching!”

“You should be so lucky!”

Taeyong lays a hand on Ten’s shoulder and Ten immediately quiets. He gives Taeyong a wounded pout, only mollified when Taeyong’s hand migrates to caress the back of his neck. Yukhei wonders if he should turn elsewhere, then Taeyong gives Yukhei his attention. His eyes match the glimmering undinite gems rimming the shield’s edge.

“I’m sure you have many uncertainties at current,” he says as he picks up the sword and offers if for Yukhei to reclaim. “But if you’ve only now come in search of our strength, might you be needed elsewhere?”

Yukhei’s eyes widen. His village, his family is waiting on the surface and they need all the help they can find. Mysterious though they are, the spirits promised to aid him and Yukhei is no position to deny them. “Yeah, you’re right,” he nods and turns to the sealed doors, hoping his easy trust isn’t misplaced. “The doors won’t open, though. I’ve tried. Maybe with all three of us—”

“Have you ever wielded a sword?”

Ten’s question makes Yukhei turn again. He glances down at the sword held in his novice hand and shakes his head. “No. I’ve never needed to before.” Despite what people assume from his towering stature, Yukhei has no interest in fighting and only helps from the rear lines when there are monsters to fend off.

Ten places his hands on his hips, tilts his head at a patronizing angle. “And what will you do now that you need to use one? Swing blindly and hope to hit your mark?”

Yukhei’s mouth opens and closes shortly. It’s exactly what he planned, but he doesn’t want them to know this. “Um.”

“Precisely. You’re a cub swiping at lions right now. But it’s no worry. Before you leave this room…” Ten trails off as his hand laces with Taeyong’s. They share secretive smiles before their vibrant eyes meet Yukhei’s.

**“…you’ll know just how to handle us.”**

There’s an indecent undertone to that, Yukhei can’t miss it if he tried, but he has other priorities. The village could be overrun with monsters in the time he spends slicing empty air. “But…but I don’t have time! You just said—!”

“It won’t take long,” Taeyong promises. Ten separates from him to stand at Yukhei’s right side, next to his sword arm. “You’ve been our hero time and time again. Your memories will return to you before long.”

“A little training is all you’ll need.” Ten’s voice is closer than it should be, and he’s taller than he was a moment ago when Yukhei glances at him. His right hand slides down the sleeve of Yukhei’s tunic to accompany Yukhei’s grip on the hilt, the other hooking over Yukhei’s shoulders. Heat rolls off him like a furnace. “We’ll be happy to guide you through a few…warm-up exercises.” Ten smirks Taeyong’s way. “Won’t we?”

“We will,” Taeyong answers with eyes like steel. “You’ll leave here a man reborn.”

Yukhei isn’t given a moment to question “his memories,” or the recurring suggestiveness in their words, or the floating spirit attached to his flank. Taeyong takes a defensive stance and Ten positions Yukhei’s sword over his shoulder. There’s no time to think it over. “All right, fine.” If they aren’t giving him an option otherwise, Yukhei will make the most of this training. His feet slide shoulder-width apart and his face hardens with resolve. “If this’ll make me stronger, I’ll follow your lead.”

“Good boy,” Ten praises softly into his ear. It might be genuine. “Now, you can manage a simple hew, yes? Left diagonal.”

Yukhei learns again how his sight will betray him. Taeyong’s slight build says nothing of his strength, he blocks Yukhei’s slash with a lazy lift of his vambrace and doesn’t budge an inch more. He wears a disappointed frown while Ten scolds Yukhei for holding back.

“You’re rather soft for a man with a village to protect.”

The weight of their judgment makes Yukhei shrink in himself. “But—it’s—you don’t wear enough armor!” He gestures to both their scantly clothed bodies. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Kind to a fault, as always.” Taeyong has a fond tilt to his lips. “Remember, I’ve sworn to act as your shield. Guarding you from injury is my purpose, so you’ll find no one fitter to bear the bite of a blade than I.” He raises his arm again, his armor gleams in the torchlight. “Now, please follow through this time.”

Though his reluctance is hard to shake, Yukhei manages to swing his sword for an echoing clang against Taeyong’s vambrace. Taeyong nods his approval and Ten makes a satisfied noise. Yukhei’s shoulders straighten, his confidence mounts, and he takes a swing at Ten’s next instruction, and another after Taeyong’s greave blocks a low slash, eight directions cycled through without rest.

As his shoulder starts to tire, Yukhei feels the steady increase of strength and accuracy behind his strikes. The jarring recoil from impacting Taeyong’s armor is gone, he no longer needs Ten’s hand to guide his blade toward the mark, and when Ten finally calls him to rest, Yukhei’s final strike forces a grunt from Taeyong and pushes him back a step. Yukhei can only stare at his sword arm in amazement, now realizing it isn’t his mind that’s meant to recover memories but his body instead. “Unbelievable…”

“You stopped him too soon,” Taeyong complains. His sparkling eyes are locked with Ten’s again, swirling with the desire his face doesn’t show. “I’d forgotten how magnificent you feel against me.”

Ten’s grip on Yukhei’s shoulder tightens painfully. “You’re cruel, teasing me when you know the task before us. We don’t have time for fun.”

Taeyong takes a bold step forward and Yukhei starts to panic. “The only task before _me_ is bending you—”

“Hey! Still here! I’m still here!” Yukhei reminds them before his ears are permanently burned scarlet. They don’t seem embarrassed about their flirtations and Yukhei worries how they’ll behave outside the temple.

The spirits exchange places, Ten standing opposite Yukhei and Taeyong wrapping his arms around Yukhei’s shoulders to hang flush against his back. He’s weightless just like Ten, but his cold breath on Yukhei’s nape is a worse distraction.

Ten gives Yukhei a taunting smirk. “I’m not going to take it easy on you, cub.” Yukhei doesn’t inform him that they’ve yet to give out any instruction.

“Don’t let him unsettle you,” Taeyong murmurs in warning. Yukhei resists a shiver at the lips grazing his neck, the nose in the unkempt strands of his brown hair. “His unpredictability is his edge. Be vigilant and use me discreetly if you intend to survive.” His arms tighten around Yukhei just slightly when he says, “Trust me, I’ve tussled with him in more ways than one.”

Yukhei isn’t given time to fluster over Taeyong’s innuendo. Ten springs off the floor, lands on the ceiling in a coiling crouch, then launches at Yukhei. Yukhei’s body stalls while his mind catches onto what’s happening.

_“I’m not going to take it easy on you…”_

_“…use me discreetly if you intend to survive.”_

“Shit!” Yukhei barely raises his shield in time to block the staggering blow from Ten’s fist. The force sends him teetering back a few steps, his arm might be going numb, but he keeps his balance and holds his shield steady. “Is a warning too much to ask for? Please?!”

Ten hums as he considers Yukhei’s plea. “I suppose that’s fair. In a moment, I’m going crush your skull.”

A moment later, Yukhei is ducking under a foot aimed for his head. Before he can reorient himself, Ten’s body twists and his heel slams into Yukhei’s middle, sending him crashing back into the wall. “Agh!” He’s winded, a pain he can liken only to taking a sledgehammer to the chest, but he recovers quickly. Taeyong shielded him from a portion of the damage, and Yukhei nearly feels guilty until Taeyong mewls his arousal against Yukhei’s neck.

“_Mnh_, isn’t he so graceful?” Taeyong compliments with a swooning smile at Ten. The stone behind them is crumbling from the impact, but Taeyong is unfazed. “And think, you’ve felt only a taste of what he’s is capable of.”

Yukhei learns how true those words are when he’s struggling to survive a torrent of fists and feet. His shield alone isn’t enough, he rolls away from kicks that split the ground, leaps back to put precious distance between himself and Ten’s lethal punches. He can’t match Ten’s speed or his airborne mobility, but he gradually reads the pattern in Ten’s assault—how his limbs perfectly trace the eight attacks of sword—and adapts. His body recalls the art of blocking and evading just as it recalled the flow of swordplay, until his struggle to survive becomes a carefully choreographed performance.

The performance reaches its close when Yukhei’s shield catches Ten’s heel at the high of an axe kick, locking him in place. Ten could break Yukhei’s trap if he wanted, Yukhei doesn’t doubt this, but he seems content to accept the stalemate.

Taeyong hooks his chin over Yukhei’s shoulder for a closer look. “Ooh, an interesting position! You’ve always had fine taste, my hero.”

Yukhei knows he shouldn’t entertain Taeyong’s baiting, but curiosity has always had a tight shackle on Yukhei’s ankle. He looks to the smarmy grin on Ten’s face, down to the lean length of Ten’s outstretched thigh and past the shifted strip of Ten’s loincloth—

“Oh!” Yukhei jumps away and covers his eyes with his shield. “Fates, I’m sorry, that uh…that wasn’t supposed to happen.” He’s being teased, he hears two tinkling sets of laughter as proof of it, but the spirits make him so especially tense that he can’t fight it. It’s not as if Ten is fully bare, and Yukhei has seen the village men in worse states of nudity, but the villagers are grisly bulks of furry flesh and Ten and Taeyong are…the opposite.

“I think he’s ready now, don’t you?”

“As he’ll ever be.”

When Yukhei uncovers his eyes, the spirits have a hand pressed to each door. A bright symbol shimmers above them, too brief for Yukhei to get a glimpse of, and sunlight pours into the hidden chamber as the doors swing open

The spirits turn to him, bathed in gold, shadows stretching across the floor, and offer him their hands.

**“It’s time, Yukhei. Your journey begins here.”**

What seemed like hours underground were only minutes on the surface. The able are still defending the barricades when Yukhei rounds the village in search of intrusion and the sun hasn’t yet reached its peak in the sky. There’s still time for him return home before there’s fighting to be done.

His older brother is already gone when Yukhei stumbles inside his house, likely finetuning his bow in preparation, but his mother is still cleaning the kitchen from their morning meal. He didn’t tell her his plan to visit the forbidden temple before he left, and she’s reasonably shocked to see the weapon in Yukhei’s hold. His mind moves faster than his mouth can follow and his explanation comes out garbled.

“The letter—and grandpa said—a-and the secret room, with the doors, and then I got _these_,” he holds up his sword and shield, “but they’re not _just_ a sword and shield, they’re—oh! I forgot.”

Yukhei gestures behind him, ready to introduce Ten and Taeyong to his mother, but he only sees the empty sitting room. They were following behind him when he left the temple, he’s sure of it. His mother is frowning now, the frown she aims at him when she thinks he’s about to do himself harm. She isn’t wrong, but Yukhei has a solid reason this time. “Uh, so, I don’t know where they went, but they’re real! They helped me—”

**“Oh, hero!”**

The spirits are calling from outside. Yukhei follows their voices and looks around until he finds them on the roof of his home, comfortably perched at the edge. His mother trails behind and gasps when Yukhei points to the spirits. “Ten! Taeyong!”

Taeyong bows politely, Ten’s fingers flutter in a coquettish wave to Yukhei’s aghast mother. Yukhei hopes it’s their position on the roof and not their indecent attire she’s reacting to—he doesn’t have an explanation for that.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Taeyong says and points westward, “but I feel they’ll be in need of your sword soon.”

Just then, Yukhei hears a loud crash followed by the cries of the villagers and distress seizes his body. The monsters have broken through the barricade.

After a hurried order to his mother to take shelter indoors, Yukhei sprints towards the disturbance. The armed villagers keep a tight perimeter around the crushed barricade, but it loosens and weakens as a lounge of small lizards crawl into the village, dodongos with rigid green hides and wide maws lined with razor fangs. They’ve infested the neighboring forest since the usurping, preying on travelers and devouring the wildlife. They’re easily dealt with individually, but their numbers now are overwhelming and they snap angrily at the villagers’ rakes and hoes.

The small ones alone are a challenge, but at the rear of the horde is a larger variant of dodongo no smaller in size than a stallion, a curved horn adorning its snout. Its hulking claws shudder the earth around it, its tail bashes through the surrounding houses and reduces them to rubble. The morale of the villagers plummets with each step forward it takes.

Yukhei clears a path to the king, cleaving the lizards in half as they leap at him. They’re agile, but they’re no competition for Ten’s speed. He halts in front of the king, acting as the barrier between it and the villagers. Bravado he’s never known is at his fingertips and he knows his sword and shield, Ten and Taeyong, are no small source of it.

“Don’t let the babies overrun the village!” he barks at the villagers, their stunned gazes on the unfamiliar warrior commanding attention. “Leave the big one to me.” With no better options available, the villagers heed him and scatter to quell the infestation.

The remaining lizards surround Yukhei as their king approaches, distracting him by snapping at his ankles and nimbly dodging the swings of his sword. “Annoying little—” Yukhei curses and raises his foot to stomp on the creature, but a skewering arrow does him the favor better.

Yukhei knows that impeccable aim. He scans the roof tops and spies his brother nocking two arrows, only an instant before two more lizards lie dead at Yukhei’s feet. “Kun!” Yukhei grins and waves his sword.

A short distance above Kun, Yukhei also sees the spirits hovering in the middle of the sky, linked at the arm. Ten is observing the chaos on the ground with an entertained smile and Taeyong’s frigid eyes are on Yukhei, as frighteningly stern as a schoolteacher’s.

Yukhei hears without hearing. _Focus_.

With Kun covering him, Yukhei lures the king into a fierce battle. Its hefty claws are powerful but its swipes are slow, Yukhei ducking beneath them and dragging his sword through the tender scales beneath the monster’s joints. Yukhei gets cocky when the monster’s foreleg wobbles, goes to lop its tail off and gets whipped in the abdomen for his thoughtlessness.

The injury to its foreleg incites the monster and makes its slashes more reckless. It tosses its weight around to combat Yukhei’s superior agility, yet the damage to its limb takes its toll when the monster lunges and tumbles short of clamping its jaws around Yukhei’s neck. It howls and struggles to recover its footing but Yukhei is there, plunging his sword deep into the dodongo’s eye for the finishing blow.

**“Marvelous!”**

Yukhei withdraws his blade to the cheers of the spirits. They descend to greet him when he turns, pride alight in their brilliant eyes. It’s the confirmation Yukhei needs that he truly won, and he ducks his head to hide how pleased he is to hear their praise—how pleased he is with himself.

“I worried I’d have to step in for a moment, but you triumphed as you always do,” Taeyong admits and grins, lopsided. “I’ll know better than to doubt you, valiant hero.”

“It was such a thrill to behold. Did you see how well he wielded me? _Ahn~!”_ Ten crosses his arms over his chest and grips his shoulders. His body shimmies with exaggerated shivers. “The goosebumps! I haven’t felt like this in so long!”

Taeyong goes to Ten’s side and folds Ten’s waist in his arms, chin resting on Ten’s shoulder. Yukhei knows he’s lost their attention. “It pained me to look away from you even briefly. Have you always been this…captivating?”

Ten turns in Taeyong’s hold to slide his hands up Taeyong’s bare chest, around his neck and into the ocean blue curls at his nape. “Your cajolery couldn’t be more obvious. You know what happens when you tempt me, Taeyong.” His hand fists a tuft of hair and Taeyong’s eyelids flutter. The blaze behind Ten’s eyes is stoked by the sight.

It’s the appropriate cue for Yukhei to remember that they’re very much in public. Kun hasn’t moved from his perch on the roof, stunned at the scene of the foreign men wrapped in each other. Yukhei groans, already dreading the excuses he’ll have to cook up later.

“Um, hey? Can _this_ thing maybe wait?” Yukhei pleads in a hiss, hoping the spirits don’t notice how hot his face has become—any longer and the effect might spread lower. “We’ve still got things to do.”

Ten and Taeyong wear matching smiles and tug each other closer. **“Of course, dear hero.”**

The remaining dodongos are disposed of quickly. Without their king leading their invasion, the lizards not hacked to pieces by the villagers scuttle back to the forest for safety. Thankfully, there are no casualties, but there are wounds to be mended and homes to be rebuilt and lizard gore to scrape from the walls.

Yukhei prefers clean-up duty to having to discuss Ten and Taeyong with his family, but it’s inevitable that he stand in the sitting room with his mother’s and his brother’s disconcerted gazes on him. Ten and Taeyong insist on attaching themselves to his sides while they hug his elbows, and it truly doesn’t make their arrangement any less shady.

Yukhei is starting to think the spirits have an agenda against him.

“I don’t know,” he tells his family, as frank as he can be. The spirits haven’t given him any information on their existence, his “hero” title, his latent combat prowess, so there’s nothing to share. “But I couldn’t have helped today without them.”

“You seem very…comfortable with each other.” From her chair, his mother shoots their linked arms a pointed glance, openly disapproving.

Ten perks up and his mouth stretches in a vile leer. “Why yes, the three of us got _quite _comfortable down in the—”

“We fought! They trained me! In how to fight!” Yukhei sputters before Ten can worsen the situation. The hostility between Ten and his mother crackles like lightning.

Kun interjects before their mother can interrogate any further, laying a calming hand on her shoulder. “Your, ehm, companions…you aren’t ordinary men, are you?” he asks. Ten and Taeyong meet eyes but don’t seem inclined to answer Kun’s question. He presses on anyway. “You helped my brother defeat that beast. For what reason?”

**“It was our hero’s will, of course,” **they say together. Yukhei can see how unnerved Kun is by their synchronicity.

“Naturally, the welfare of you and your people is no interest of ours,” Taeyong informs Kun with his ever-pleasant smile. He tilts his head to rest on Yukhei’s shoulder. “We go only where Yukhei’s hand guides us. Why, should he wish us to raze this very village to the ground, we would be only obliged to slaughter—”

“Oookay!” Yukhei steps in before the spirits can alarm his family any further. “I think us three need to talk. Um, outside.” He escapes with Ten and Taeyong in tow before his anyone can protest.

On the outskirts of the village and away from stray ears, Yukhei asks what there was no time for back in the temple. “Why am I the hero?” He’s leaning against a sturdy fruit tree and eyeing the spirits as they frolic in the foliage above him. Neither of them shows concern for the heart attack they nearly gave his mother. “My grandfather left me a letter, a letter saying to go into the temple. He knew I’d find you two in there. How? And why me?”

“You’re talking an awful lot. As if we’d recall some doddering relative of yours.” Ten descends, hovers lazily at Yukhei’s eye-level with his chin cradled in his arms. “You’re _the_ hero because you’re _our_ hero. It’s very simple. What’s not to understand?”

Yukhei frowns.

“Ten and I were forged long ago.” Taeyong is sitting on a thin branch, wiping a sugarmint apple against his skirt. “From the same mass of aurachalcum, in the same fire, by the same hammer. We were forged to aid a courageous warrior in their quest to liberate their homeland.”

“Whenever great evil arises, the soul of that warrior arises with it—the enceinte interwoven with time itself,” Ten continues, allowing Taeyong a bite into his apple. “Reborn again and again, the warrior’s soul has always sought us out, and in every meeting we’ve supported them as their sword and shield.

“And in this meeting, that warrior…is…,” Ten’s finger softly taps the point of Yukhei’s nose, “…you, Yukhei.”

Yukhei points to himself, eyes wide. “Me? I’m…a warrior?”

Ten quirks an eyebrow. “You bested a monstrous lizard a little while ago, did you not?” Taeyong’s mouth is full, but he softly applauds by tapping his fingers to his wrist.

Their nonchalance doesn’t lighten the burden on Yukhei’s shoulders any. He paces back and forth through the grass, yanking through the knots in his shaggy hair. “A hero. A hero! I can’t be a hero. I can’t even cook for myself yet! What if I find—wait.” He pauses mid-step and turns to Ten. “Does this mean I have to fight the tyrant? Like the warriors before me?”

Ten shrugs. “Your choice, my cub.”

Before Yukhei can heave a relieved sigh and retreat into to his cozy, _safe_ home, Taeyong pulls him away from optimism’s warmth. “Bear in mind that you first called upon our power to protect your family. Until this great evil is quelled, any temporary peace they may know is just that. Temporary_._”

It’s as clear a threat as any Yukhei’s heard. If the tyrant is allowed to reign any longer, there will be no end to the monsters, no end to the fighting. As much as Yukhei dislikes battle, he hates the danger barring him from seeing the world, hates not knowing if his brother will return from his hunting trips, if the village will see the next day. “And there’s no one else who can do this? No one but me?”

**“We’ll accept no substitute!” **they chirp without hesitation.

Yukhei expected nothing else. He doesn’t like the idea of endangering someone else in his stead anyway. He takes a deep breath and steels himself for what’s to come. “All right, all right! I’ll do it.” He pumps a confident fist to the sky. “We can do this!”

Ten and Taeyong exchange surprised looks. Ten asks, “Hrm? You’re certain you won’t need time to think on it? This is no small undertaking, you know. Don’t take it lightly.”

Yukhei shakes his head. He’s always been the type to make up his mind fast and firm. He considers it a strong point. “No use crying about it, right? If it has to be me, it has to be me. Besides,” he grins at both of them, “At least I don’t have to do it alone. It’s the three of us together, right?”

Barely a breath later and Yukhei is tackled by the spirits, their hugs around his shoulders tight enough to crush bone and their faces melded to his neck. He stumbles and stammers, the sudden bombardment of affection warms his face to an uncomfortable temperature. “Woah, h-hey, hold on!”

“Oh, Taeyong! Did you hear what he said?”

“I did! Ah, the way my heart fluttered!”

When their words become playful kisses to his neck, Yukhei forcibly frees himself from their clutches, a struggle made more difficult by his effort to avoid touching their bare skin. “The hell? Don’t even know what I said,” he grumbles and rights his ruffled hair.

Ten and Taeyong are holding each other at the waists, staring at Yukhei with undue adoration. It brings up another waiting question, one that barrels out of Yukhei’s mouth before he can remember tact. “So. Are you two, uhh, together_?_”

The spirits glance at each other, where their bodies are pressed flush from hip to knee, then return to him.

Yukhei shakes his head. “No, I mean, are you, well…in love? With feelings? ‘Cause you’re always…kind o…_touching_, so?”

Too late does he regret opening his mouth.

There’s a taunting curl to the edge of Ten’s mouth. “Touching?”

He smoothly spins Taeyong and pastes himself to Taeyong’s back, floating closer so Yukhei can plainly see where his hands are splayed on Taeyong’s chest and stomach. Taeyong doesn’t flinch. “Touching, like this?” Ten sings over Taeyong’s spacious shoulder as his hand slides low to palm Taeyong’s crotch over his skirt. Taeyong chest tenses, his thighs squeeze around Ten’s hand, his lashes flicker delicately.

Yukhei knows they’re toying with him again, but with their unabashed eyes boring into his he can’t help but crumble and look away. “Y…yeah. That,” he mumbles meekly.

Ten laughs into Taeyong’s hair, devilishly amused. “Love is such a fragile little emotion. A little insulting, I think.” When his red eyes meet with Taeyong’s, the raw ardor behind them is immediately palpable. “It pains me to even speak of us as separate entities.”

Taeyong combs Ten’s hair like he would a beloved pet. “You’re charming when it suits you.”

Ten huffs as if offended, but he doesn’t lean away from Taeyong’s hand or Taeyong’s approaching mouth. “Implying I’m not always charming?”

This time, Yukhei doesn’t intrude on their embrace. Their meeting of lips is immeasurably tender and Ten’s arms tighten around Taeyong in a movement that’s both assured and desperate. Yukhei leaves before their passion can burn him, before the unfamiliar twist in his gut can become painful.

Although he never sees them reenter the village, the sword and shield at his bedside pulse with their presence while he sleeps.

Yukhei doesn’t tell his family of his decision until the following morning, after his belongings are stuffed into a satchel and he’s said his peace to the comfortable life he never properly appreciated. His mother pitches a fit, predictably, and forbids him from leaving. Kun as well isn’t happy about Yukhei facing danger alone but accepts that the village’s defense has better need of his archery. Even with his mother crying and beating his shoulders, Yukhei wraps her in a tight hug before he leaves.

The villagers are still dealing with the aftermath of the dodongo attack. No one knows the magnitude of the journey he’s embarking on, and Yukhei might prefer it that way—the more he’s conscious of the hopes resting on his shoulders, the more the pressure will crush him.

Ten and Taeyong reappear at each side once Yukhei is making tracks on the northward road, red and blue pearls of light that materialize into their human forms. What scared him out of his trousers only yesterday is a welcome sight today.

“Well, well, maybe you aren’t the slouch I thought you to be.” Ten’s compliment drips with acid. “I was sure you’d be helpless without our guidance, but here you are at an early start.”

“It’s not my first time leaving the village,” Yukhei boasts. Lugging supplies from the market town to his village is the only opportunity for Yukhei to travel, with his brother and the other warriors guarding each other. “There aren’t any current maps back home. I should be able to find one at the market that’ll take us to the royal city.” On the northern continent, where the tyrant resides.

“You’ll find armor there as well, won’t you?” Taeyong asks. When Yukhei’s gives a questioning look, Taeyong’s fingers draw down Yukhei’s arm and pinch the sleeve of his tunic. “Certainly you aren’t planning on braving another battle wearing only this flimsy cloth.”

Yukhei doesn’t point out the blatant irony, mostly because he’s sure it’ll backfire.

“You’ll need armor suitable for a warrior of your service.”

“Armor that leaves his arms out in the open, yes?” Ten chimes in, far too enthusiastic.

Taeyong nods before Yukhei can reject the idea. “Naturally. And we can’t forget his thighs. I’m sure vestiges of the war skirts of olden days can be found somewhere.” His thumb is rubbing at his chin, a scheme on his mind that can only mean Yukhei’s suffering.

“Hey, I can dress myself!” Yukhei argues back, but the spirits don’t pay him any attention. Suspicious of their silence, he narrows his eyes at both of them. “How do you even know what’s under my clothes?” He’s been wearing long-sleeved tunics and long pants since yesterday.

They glance at him, faces as puzzled as Yukhei feels. “What, you thought we’d close our eyes? When you were kind enough to gift us so _plentiful_ a moonlit vision?” Ten scans Yukhei from head to toe with an approving nod.

_“What?!” _Yukhei’s screech makes the birds flee their perches.

Taeyong shakes his head, cheek cradled in his palm. “Oh, I see now. You disrobed in front of us unknowingly. And I thought we were your honored audience. A pity.”

There are enough hints for Yukhei to realize his horrifying mistake. Last night, he bathed and prepared for bed with his sword and shield in clear view, having forgotten that the spirits _are_ his sword and shield. Not that Yukhei is ashamed of his body—a little too far the opposite, Kun would complain—but showing off to the village women isn’t the same as showing off to Ten and Taeyong. He would’ve preferred…bulking up a bit before unveiling himself.

“Hm, I don’t know. I still feel quite honored even now.” Ten stares very deliberately at Yukhei’s crotch and licks his lecherous lips.

Flustered yet again, Yukhei crosses his arms over his chest to protect his lost chastity and runs ahead on the road, screaming, _“Ahh!” _at the top of his lungs.

He expects to grow resistant to the spirits’ immodesty with patience. He’s sorely mistaken.

While they’re in town, Yukhei convinces Ten and Taeyong to walk as humans do to avoid alarming the townspeople. In return, they demand to hang onto Yukhei’s arms while they roam the market square. With two brightly colored, barely clothed, unnaturally beautiful men attached at each side, Yukhei draws more than a little judgement from passersby.

At the armory, the spirits dress Yukhei just as they promised, the brigandine he’s fitted with leaving his arms and the furrow of his chest bare. When Yukhei’s argument against the impracticality of having exposed limbs goes ignored, he reminds the spirits that he doesn’t have the money to buy pricey leather armor. Of course, they have an answer for that as well, in the form of propping themselves on the front counter and murmuring sweet words to the gullible old shopkeeper. With Ten’s radiant smile and Taeyong’s ocean-deep eyes working in tandem, they’re more of a threat than they are as sword and shield.

The height of it is at night, when Yukhei is trying to sleep on a bed of twigs and pebbles. He assumed the spirits would retreat into the sword and shield as they did last night, but they’re awake across the campfire, armor and clothes strewn around them. The sounds of wet kisses and slick skin sliding together drowns out the crickets’ song, no matter how Yukhei tries to close his reddened ears to it.

“More…m-more…like that…_mmh_, Taeyong~!”

His back is to them, but it doesn’t stop Yukhei from picturing every sordid detail. He’s already seen so much skin, it’s easy for his mind to fill in the blanks, and that leads to a terrible throbbing in his trousers he refuses to alleviate.

Worse than that is the feeling in his gut at the image of Ten and Taeyong being intimate, the same pain as when he witnessed their kiss. It’s nonsense, he doesn’t react this way hearing them flirt with each other, but those words put in practice fill him with bitterness he can’t explain. Disgust? Jealousy, maybe?

Their next destination, the port city at the northern border of the continent, is days away on foot, guaranteeing nights under the stars with the spirits’ moans as a recurring lullaby. The longer he goes without resolving his feelings, the more his dour mood bleeds into the day.

On the road outside of port, they encounter a trio of monsters, pig-faced goblins wielding wooden clubs to threaten travelers. The bokoblins surround them and close in, planning on attack each of them one-on-one—a foolhardy blunder.

“Hmph, not even fit for morning exercise,” Ten grumbles after flinging a bokoblin into a nearby tree, the trunk splintering on impact.

“I regret involving myself,” Taeyong agrees, equally as bored. His foot is flat on the back of another bokoblin’s head, drowning its face in the mud until it stops struggling. “This would’ve made fair practice for Yukhei.”

While Yukhei appreciates their confidence in him, he’s in no position to accept praise when he’s sprawled on his back, reeling from a hardy blow to the forehead. The bokoblin gurgles with nasty laughter and swings again, its club hitting the earth when Yukhei rolls away and onto his feet.

The spirits are surprised to see him struggle against the monster, but they don’t interfere. Yukhei is grateful and takes the chance to redeem himself, fighting with proper focus. His swings are more vicious than usual and he overwhelms the bokoblin with pure force, a slash through its middle ending the skirmish.

There’s a tiny frown on Taeyong’s lips while he patches up the wound to Yukhei’s head. Ten is hovering lazily overhead. Yukhei knows they’re curious about Yukhei’s restlessness, but Yukhei wouldn’t dare tell them he’s been wound up for days with thoughts of their nightly intimacy, not without bursting into flames. That, and he still doesn’t know why the stirring in his pants always comes with discomfort. There’s no use trying to explain something he himself doesn’t understand.

Taeyong smooths out the bandaging on Yukhei’s forehead and his eyes catch Yukhei’s, worry evident. He’s been standing between Yukhei’s legs while Yukhei sits on a tree stump, hunched over to Yukhei’s height. Yukhei’s errant eyes have been trying to guide his attention to Taeyong’s nipples the entire time. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’ll share what’s on your mind?” Taeyong asks.

“M’fine,” Yukhei grunts, too quick to be honest.

“You’re strange, is what you are,” Ten pipes in without missing a beat. Yukhei glares at him.

Taeyong shakes his head. “I respect your need for privacy, my hero, but an issue that hinders your performance in battle is cause for our concern.”

“You don’t know that! My performance is great!” Yukhei regrets it as soon as he blurts it out, his entire face burns. Taeyong is bewildered but Ten catches his slip-up. A wicked grin threatens to split his face. “I mean, I’m fine. Really.”

Ten descends while upside-down, his devious face right behind Taeyong’s shoulder. “Ehhh? What’s thaaat? I’m not so sure. Sounds like we should give this performing prowess of yours a little trial, yes?”

“No!” Yukhei stands and stumbles away from the spirits, putting distance between them before his imagination runs rampant again. Fates know his body will betray him if he pictures Ten’s proposal. “Can we drop this? Please? I just want some hot food. Yeah, I’m just…hungry, is all. Food!” He’s stomping down the road to the city before they can say anything more.

Thankfully, Taeyong doesn’t press any further and Ten is surprisingly silent despite having an inkling as to Yukhei’s problem. The remaining journey to port is uncomfortably quiet for Yukhei, who always enjoys making conversation with his travel party, but he only has himself to blame.

The taste of saltwater is immediate when they step into port and it clears Yukhei’s mind of troubles. Only when he sees the crystal waters of a vast ocean does he grasp how far he’s traveled away from home, how much of the world there is left to see. His heart is excited and anxious all at once. “Huh…”

He lingers for too long on the sight, scores of people passing them by while the spirits watch his mystified expression with little smiles. “I’d fancy a closer look,” Ten announces while hooking his hand in Yukhei’s elbow, rankling him out of his daze. He’s not surprised they’ve taken the no-floating agreement seriously. “Wouldn’t you, Taeyong?”

Taeyong takes Yukhei’s other elbow. “I would,” he agrees and they drag Yukhei along without wait.

They find a free edge on the docks away from the stream of dockhands toting cargo to and from moored ships. Yukhei kneels and dips his hand in cool seawater, letting it wash up to his wrist. It feels no different than any other water he’s touched, but he’s still smiling, even giggling under his breath. Taeyong learns from one of the workers when the next ship sailing for the northern continent is scheduled to depart, tomorrow at early noon. The sun is already setting for the day, a shard of gold sinking behind the ocean.

The inn they stop at only modestly filled, and they’re able to reserve a room for cheap once Ten and Taeyong work their charms on the innkeeper. Yukhei would think bewitchment is one of their talents, but men with their faces have no need for magic.

“Food!” Yukhei sobs as the server slides his meal on the table, fresh roasted haddock with the fragrance of thawed chilly pepper and loconut, steamed rice and mushroom soup, sliced tomangoes drizzled with cream to sate his hunger.

He’s alone at his corner table in the inn’s dining area while the spirits tour the night, not that he expected them to join. Ten never eats and Taeyong refuses to touch anything not glazed in syrup. It isn’t normal for him to be comfortable alone, but he’s glad for a reprieve from the spirits’ company and the confusing thoughts they encourage. For once, there’s no phantom temptation clawing at his wrist, urging him to _demand_ something he can’t define from the spirits.

Yukhei fills his belly to the brim, then makes use of the bathhouse to scrub stubborn grime from his body. It’s soothing, therapeutic, he thinks he could face any temptation the spirits dangle ahead of him with renewed resistance.

Once he climbs the inn staircase to his room, that rallied confidence is quickly cut down.

Maybe his bath had taken longer than necessary, or maybe the spirits’ tour had ended early, or maybe—it doesn’t matter, not right now. Yukhei misestimated time and this is his punishment, his mind forever ingrained with the sight of Ten, laid flat on his back in the room’s single bed, and Taeyong, hunched over Ten with his knees framing Ten’s hips and his lower body rocking at a practiced pace. Their armor is cattered the floor, skirts hooked over the side table where an incriminating jar of clear fluid sits. The sound of their slick mouths sliding together is entirely too loud.

Yukhei shrieks, naturally. _“Gah!”_

Taeyong straightens and flips his blue curls away from his face when Yukhei frantically shuts the door behind him. “Oh, Yukhei,” he greets, breathless and perfectly pleasant as if Yukhei’s hand isn’t clutching his stuttering heart. The motion of his hips becomes slow and circular. “I trust you enjoyed your meal?”

He’s conversing with Yukhei as if Ten isn’t buried full inside him, as if his own lips don’t part in aborted moans whenever Ten’s body rolls, a stiff cock tapping Ten’s stomach. The spirits have been unabashed for as long as Yukhei’s known them, this shouldn’t take Yukhei by surprise, but he doesn’t think he’ll every adjust to it.

His body is in no better shape, blood rushing downward the longer he stares. He averts his eyes and stammers, “You—wha—why in my bed?!” Sure, he’d be just as unhappy if they fucked on the floor, but now he doesn’t even get to sleep on a _clean_ bed.

Taeyong lifts an unconvinced eyebrow. “Hm? The bed? Is that truly what’s bothering you?”

“Attention here, if you please,” Ten orders of Taeyong, ending with his lips in a pleading pout. “The cub will survive. I won’t.” He tries to ring his arms around Taeyong’s waist and resume their pace, but Taeyong is quick to grab his wrists and pin his hands to the bed above his head. Ten squirms defiantly until Taeyong bends down to his ear and whispers something soft that makes Ten’s body still. Yukhei doesn’t want to know what could make Ten, of all wily creatures, obedient.

Taeyong turns to Yukhei again. “Well? Are you still unwilling to bare your heart to us?”

Somehow, it feels as though Yukhei became the criminal here. He feels guilty for hiding the truth with Taeyong’s clear eyes boring into his, but how can he verbalize something he can’t explain? He fidgets, clenches his fists and licks his lips just to close them again. Nothing comes out.

Ten loses his patience, a scowl kindled in malice at Yukhei then a whimper at Taeyong. “Pay him no mind. The bludgeon doesn’t yet realize his body yearns for us. Let him stew in his stubbornness.”

“I don’t! My body’s fine!” Yukhei argues, but Taeyong isn’t listening.

“I see. So you’ve been rejecting your memories. Is that it?” he says. “And I suppose you’ve felt excluded when Ten and I are together, hm?”

_Excluded._

As soon as he hears this, Yukhei finally has a name to his displeasure.

It was never about the spirits being intimate around him, it was them being intimate _without_ him. His enthusiasm to travel together with them waned the more he sat on the sidelines of their passionate nights, the unreasonable feeling of betrayal corroding his insides. The fire between he and them seemed more than a mile’s span and Yukhei soul suffered in longing.

It’s bizarre to think his body has memories of a relationship his mind doesn’t, but no more bizarre than the sword skill he gained in one morning’s time.

With clarity comes calm. The fight drains from Yukhei’s body all at once. “I…have?”

Dazed, Yukhei doesn’t realize the spirits have separated until they’re hovering in front of him, bright eyes luring him out of his thoughts. Ten smiles, pretty and vicious. “Silly hero, we’ve told time and time again.”

**“You are ours. That will not change,” **Ten and Taeyong tell him, no room for argument in their tone. Yukhei shivers. Have they always sounded this possessive?

“It’s only natural to miss our touch after so long. How do you suppose we’ve fared all this time?” Taeyong’s hand cradles Yukhei’s cheek and draws down to his neck. “Ah, how patient I’ve been since the day you summoned us, and Ten has been terribly miserable without you between us.”

Ten bristles up and denies it immediately, “That’s—I have not!” but he’s too obvious. Yukhei smiles despite his muddle.

“You are no less a piece of us then we are of each other. Do you know this now, Yukhei?” Taeyong asks and Yukhei nods, hesitant at first but then assured. It doesn’t matter if his head can’t make sense of this, he’s never depended on it anyway. His soul resonates with every word Taeyong speaks. “Then will you return to us?

Yukhei falls back a step, gaze darting nervously between them. He’s blushing again, but they aren’t chuckling, they aren’t teasing him. “Tonight? _Now?_ But we’ve never—what if I’m not…like the others?” He isn’t one to doubt himself, but Ten and Taeyong have literal ages worth of experience latched onto their belts. It’s a bit imposing.

“Well, that makes it all the more exciting, doesn’t it?” Ten floats closer, whispers with warm lips grazing the shell of Yukhei’s ear. “We’re looking forward to learning you all over again.”

They lead him to sit at the edge of the bed and take Yukhei’s lap, claim a thigh each to straddle. They’re both aroused and heavy, craving for Yukhei as they do for each other. Ten’s hand combs his hair, tightens and tugs to hear Yukhei’s breath catch. Taeyong’s grip is docile over Yukhei’s windpipe, slides up until those spindly fingers are firm on Yukhei’s jaw, holding him still as Taeyong closes in.

Taeyong’s lips are wintry against Yukhei’s, his tongue sliding into Yukhei’s mouth a refreshing drink in the summertime. He’s slow too, thoroughly tasting everything he can reach, refamiliarizing himself with Yukhei in every twist and curl of his tongue around Yukhei’s, and when Yukhei starts to adapt, Taeyong is gone and replaced with an inferno. Ten is just as Yukhei expects, taking without reservation and wanting more still. His lips are curved in a smile as he presses them to Yukhei’s mouth again and again like a lover left bereft for years, leaving the indents of his teeth in Yukhei’s plush bottom lip and the spicy flavor of his mouth on Yukhei’s tongue.

They take turns possessing his mouth and drinking their fill, Taeyong suckling his tongue and slowly stealing his breath, Ten rough on his hair and bruising his lips. Yukhei’s eagerness is no substitute for skill and he struggles to keep pace with them, dazed from lack of air with drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. When they aren’t kissing him senseless, there’s a scalding tongue dragging under the bend of his jaw, cold lips mouthing behind his ear. The hesitance that normally restrains Yukhei from touching the spirits fades and his long arms wind around their waists. He doesn’t think it’s coincidence that the spirits are sized perfectly for him to hold.

After Yukhei’s neck is mottled pink and red, Ten pulls at Yukhei’s sleep shirt and rolls it over Yukhei’s head to toss with the other discarded clothing, then Taeyong’s palm on Yukhei’s chest urges him to lie on his back “My, such a beauty,” Ten admires as their painted nails rake into Yukhei’s golden skin, blue over the swell of his chest and red down the ridges of his stomach. Yukhei’s hips buck under the spirits’ weight and Ten smirks. “Isn’t he so cruel for keeping this from us?”

“An absolute criminal,” Taeyong agrees and hunches over, blowing cold air over Yukhei’s nipple until it perks up prettily. “I’d say we’re due some recompense, wouldn’t you?”

If Taeyong is playing along with Ten’s game, Yukhei is in more trouble than he realized. He tries to save himself, “It wasn’t on purpose! How was I—_ohh,_” but Taeyong’s mouth around his nipple silences his thoughts, fangs scraping the sensitive peak mushing Yukhei’s excuses into grunts and whinnies. Taeyong’s knee brushes Yukhei’s crotch and Yukhei thrusts into on instinct.

“I would,” Ten responds to Taeyong, as if Yukhei hadn’t said a word. He digs his fingers into Yukhei’s stomach and grinds against Yukhei’s thigh, his arousal is scorching hot even through Yukhei’s trousers. “Oh, my sweet hero…the things I’d like to do to you,” Ten breathes while his head rolls from shoulder to shoulder.

Taeyong unlatches from Yukhei’s chest briefly. “Be gentle with him. Humans shatter too easily,” he reminds Ten before switching his attention to Yukhei’s ignored nipple, suckling and swirling his tongue around the bronze areola. His fingers find Yukhei’s wetted nipple and pinch until Yukhei winces.

“Nonsense. There’s no one more suited than him.” Ten aims a pitiable look at Yukhei. “You’ll let us have our fun, won’t you, cub?”

Yukhei wants to think carefully about Ten’s plea, but Ten’s diplomatic hand slides into Yukhei’s trousers, just a finger playing at the sticky slit of Yukhei’s cock, and Yukhei might agree to selling his own leg if a fist to fuck into is the reward. “Yeah…please, whatever you—please,” he answers.

Ten grins and slides off of Yukhei, delighted to bargain away Yukhei’s safety. “Good. Give us a little room.”

Shamefully obedient, Yukhei shuffles back and leaves half the narrow bed free for the spirits. He doesn’t have to worry what position they want him in, they’re pulling off his trousers and spreading his knees as soon as they’ve crawled onto the bed, making space for them both to huddle between Yukhei’s thighs.

Ten and Taeyong don’t give him a moment to feel shy about being exposed, two hands cover his erection and squeeze harshly. “Oh, he’s more than enough when he’s excited,” Taeyong comments under the echo of Yukhei’s needy whine. “And I worried we’d have to squabble for the first taste.”

“Made perfect to our needs, as always,” Ten adds.

Yukhei doesn’t understand what they’re discussing until their hands are gone and he feels a searing tongue dragging up the length of his cock, a frigid tongue wrapping around the blunt head. His eyes flutter shut. “F-fates, that’s…!” If not for Taeyong holding down his waist, Yukhei might’ve thrown himself from the bed.

The spirits are ravenous, lapping up the copious clear drippings from Yukhei’s slit and suckling kisses down to his sac, torturing him with puffs of hot and cold breath over his silken skin, mouthing at the base of his cock and biting into the firm flesh of his plump inner thighs. Yukhei is pulled between two edges, sweating when Ten’s merry lips envelope his sac and mouth hungrily, shivering when he’s swallowed halfway down Taeyong’s constricting throat. His nerve endings go haywire trying to handle conflicting signals and Yukhei’s thrashing hips are the result.

Ten’s and Taeyong’s mouths distract Yukhei from discomfort while a slick finger finds his rear, stroking up and down his cleft before sliding into his entrance. Yukhei knows from the warmth that seeps into him that it’s Ten, but he doesn’t make complaint when Ten’s tongue joins his finger. Taeyong’s head bobs up and down around Yukhei’s arousal at a leisurely pace while Ten stretches Yukhei with crooks of his finger and flicks of his tongue. His ears are assaulted by the indecent slurping sounds of them tasting him so heartily, and he’s more agonizingly hard than he’s ever been.

The throbbing in his arousal gets worse after a second finger breaches him, and another still. Ten compensates for the sting by licking deep inside Yukhei and prodding relentlessly at a curious spot that blinds Yukhei with pleasure. Yukhei bites into his bottom lip to keep silent, knowing how permeating a voice as deep as his is, but with Taeyong breathing cold air over the head of his arousal and Ten’s fingers ruthlessly fucking him, Yukhei can’t hold back. “Ah…please…please…I’m almost—!”

It’s his fault for announcing his climax, his fault for tying his fingers in the sheets and arching his back off the bed as that blessed burn courses through his muscles. Before Yukhei can reach a brilliant finish, a stern hand clamps around the base of his girth to rein him back. Yukhei sobs, pitiful watery eyes opening to see Ten and Taeyong leering at him with unbroken focus, vibrant eyes indulging in his every motion.

Taeyong pulls Yukhei’s cock from his mouth with an audible noise, saliva strung from his bottom lip to Yukhei’s tip. “Mm, I hoped to see you just like this. As adorable as I imagined.” His grip is around Yukhei is unyielding.

Ten laughs as he rises to steal the pearl leaking from Yukhei’s cock. Taeyong joins him and their lips mash together around the head, a messy kiss that leaves Yukhei cock drenched in their slobber and even more desperate to finish. “Wait, you can’t—_ngh_, you can’t…leave me like this,” Yukhei pleads.

He doesn’t mean to whine, but Taeyong cooing at him and crawling up to brush his bangs from his damp forehead is the only relief he’s allowed. Taeyong is smiling tenderly. Were Yukhei not delirious with need, he’d realize that smile is no less merciless than Ten’s.

“And what is it you’d like from us, my pretty little hero?” Taeyong’s lips are a thread’s width away from Yukhei’s and he grips Yukhei’s hair to forbid Yukhei from stealing a kiss. “You agreed to let us have our fun, didn’t you? Yet you want to leave Ten and I all alone? So soon?”

Yukhei’s eyes widen when Taeyong’s neglected erection rubs at his hip. How thoughtless he was, so enraptured in his own ecstasy that he ignored his partners’ needs. “No! That’s not what I meant,” he argues, weighted shame sinking in his stomach.

“Truly? Do you mean that? Then you’ll take us along with you? Hm?”

Yukhei nods as best he’s able. “Of course. Always.” He wouldn’t feel complete without them.

“He certainly talks well,” Ten remarks as Yukhei feels a pour of viscous liquid over his erection. His breath stutters against Taeyong’s lips. “But I’m not so confident.”

“Oh, Yukhei, I’m not sure you’ve earned Ten’s faith yet,” Taeyong says with a discouraged voice.

“He hasn’t,” Ten confirms.

“Then I will.” Yukhei makes a bold promise not to disappoint Ten and Taeyong. He furrows his brow, resolved even as Ten’s hand leisurely soaks his erection in liquid.

Yukhei isn’t ready for the vision that greets him when Taeyong moves aside, Ten kneeling over Yukhei’s thickness with a hand keeping it aimed upward, and he isn’t ready for Ten to fiendishly lick his own fangs before forcibly spearing himself around Yukhei.

“_Haaah! _S-shit!” Yukhei tosses his head back with a hoarse moan, hands reaching for Ten’s waist to ground himself. He’s melting, cock immersing in Ten’s impossibly soft heat, and Ten doesn’t pause until his round backside is cozy on Yukhei’s lap. The resolve Yukhei fortified only seconds ago is already crumbling. “Not…fair…!”

Ten gives a playful shimmy of his hips and the caress of his body silences Yukhei instantly. “You’ll join us, won’t you, Taeyong?”

“If Yukhei will have me.”

Yukhei’s dazed eyes cross when there’s a sudden obstruction to his view of the ceiling. Taeyong’s is kneeling over Yukhei’s head and his cock, hefty and cool at touch, lies across the bridge of Yukhei’s nose, tip prodding coaxingly at Yukhei’s supple lips. Yukhei parts them without wait and Taeyong makes a delighted sound as he sinks inside, flattening Yukhei’s tongue to the floor of his mouth to fit snugly. Taeyong doesn’t thrust more than partway, content with dragging himself unhurriedly between Yukhei’s suckling lips and stretching Yukhei’s cheek outward around his wayward cock. Yukhei is grateful, given his experience is lacking and his mind is too addled by Ten’s tight warmth to learn new tricks.

“How is he? Just as you remember?” Ten asks. Yukhei can’t see pass the subtle curve of Taeyong’s rear, but Ten and Taeyong are leaning into each other above him, hands joined with fingers intertwined, joyous grins on their faces.

Taeyong hums appreciatively at the inelegant swipes of Yukhei’s tongue. “_Nnh_, not quite. He’s…new. Thrilling. I’m falling all over again.”

“Ah! We truly are one again!” Ten pulls Taeyong close and seals their lips together, giddy laughter shared between their mouths as their tongues tie. His movement shifts Yukhei’s cock inside him and Yukhei jolts, but Ten’s only care is licking crudely over Taeyong’s lolled out tongue. “Mn, he’s quite a fit. I’m almost sore to let him go.”

“Do it,” Taeyong whispers and kisses Ten twice more. “Do it. He’ll be so lovely. I can’t wait another moment.”

Ten barks a short laugh. “Hah! Did you hear him, Yukhei? My chains have been severed. I hope you’ll grant us a memorable show!”

Yukhei hasn’t heard a word they’ve said, so he’s all the more startled when Ten rises abruptly and slams down around Yukhei’s suffering arousal. Yukhei’s distressed moan is muffled by Taeyong’s girth. Ten is too lethal, too powerful when he slams down on Yukhei’s hips, too molten when he clenches around Yukhei. His and Taeyong’s hands are no longer clasped together. Ten reclines with his grip on Yukhei’s knees behind him and rides Yukhei furiously, his own stiff arousal pummeling his stomach with every fall of his hips. Taeyong’s fingers are at the chest he only recently defiled, pinching and scraping with his fingernails, greedy palms kneading the plumpness of Yukhei’s muscle.

Yukhei clutches Ten’s thighs in effort to slow Ten’s speed but it’s no use. Yukhei has been waiting to tumble over the edge from the moment he felt the clutch of Ten’s muscles, it would’ve taken only a breeze for him to teeter and the spirits are a boulder’s weight in force. There are guilty tears in Yukhei’s clenched eyes as his body lifts from the bed, fingers claw into Ten’s flesh, toes curling and lungs seizing. The pleasure coursing through him numbs his mind and blazes under his skin. Yukhei’s muscles are so tense they ache as he finishes inside Ten, howling around Taeyong’s cock while Ten milks Yukhei until he has nothing to give.

While Yukhei’s body revels in satisfaction, Ten and Taeyong climb away from him. He notices their absence immediately, but his senses don’t return for several minutes. Once he can focus again, he finds the spirits sitting beside him, Ten in Taeyong’s lap, teething at Taeyong’s neck as Taeyong’s fingers gently work Yukhei’s release from Ten’s entrance.

Both are still fully erect, yet they make no effort to relieve themselves.

They’re pleased, watching him struggle to sit up. He’s aware they’re enjoying the vision of him looking properly ruined, but he’s too distracted to feel embarrassed. “He’s even more beautiful than I pictured,” Taeyong observes.

“You tricked me,” Yukhei accuses. The expression he wears is petulant, damp brow wrinkled and swollen lips pouting. “You said—you said together, but you two didn’t…”

“He’s darling when he’s upset, I’ll admit,” Ten says, for once not mocking, and that frustrates Yukhei more. Ten and Taeyong haven’t touched themselves since Yukhei barged in on them. They never planned on finishing with him for even a moment, likely knew he didn’t have the endurance to match their provocation. Yukhei doesn’t like being underestimated.

“Fuck me,” he bids of them, mouth moving before his mind can follow. “Both of you, fuck me. Please”

Their dumbstruck faces are almost worth the impending pain Yukhei wished upon himself. “Accept defeat with grace, cub,” Ten tells him, adding a patronizing snort.

“Perhaps another time,” Taeyong agrees. “There’s no benefit in over—”

“You told me I was made perfect for you two, that I belong between you. You said this,” Yukhei reminds them. They’re silent in response to his challenge—Yukhei takes it as a victory. “I’m your hero, _your_ hero. I belong with you and to you, don’t I?”

The spirits don’t hesitate to answer. “**You do.**”

“Then I won’t be satisfied as long as we’re apart. And neither will either of you.”

The spirits stare at him for such a long time, Yukhei worries he angered them. Perhaps they’re waiting for him to take back his words, but Yukhei has already made up his mind.

Ten finally speaks. “You’re confident for a man who only this noon struggled to meet our eyes.”

Yukhei doesn’t take the bait. He raises his chin defiantly. “And I haven’t stepped back once since I found out the truth. I know myself and I’ve waited long enough. So have you.”

Before tonight, Yukhei would’ve been shied away from the sight before him, Ten and Taeyong detangling from each other and slinking toward him, hands on his long limbs folding and maneuvering him to their wills. Now, it’s his only desire.

“Ah, Yukhei,” Taeyong croons from beneath Yukhei, his hand idly tracing from Yukhei’s knee up to Yukhei’s abdomen. Yukhei is on all fours above Taeyong, knees bracketing Taeyong’s hips. Ten is behind him, humming while his dripping fingers bury inside Yukhei. Yukhei finds it far less pleasurable without two mouths nursing his cock. “You captivate me more each day.”

“You’re saying that—_ghh…_because you get to fuck me?” Yukhei tries to be cheeky, but grunts whenever Ten’s fingers plunge deep.

Taeyong’s hand pauses on Yukhei’s firm backside and squeezes. “I need no cause for adoring you. This was only a matter of time’s flow.”

Yukhei wants to scoff at the notion of destiny playing a hand in this, but what other force could have him so eager to be cushioned between two spirits ancient libidinous spirits?

He tenses when Ten’s fingers withdraw from his body, knowing what’s to come. It isn’t the inevitable pain that bothers him, but fear of disappointing Ten and Taeyong. He wants sincerely for them to feel the same bliss he felt, but a novice can only learn with practice.

Ten holds Taeyong’s cock upright and Taeyong’s strength lowers Yukhei, keeps him still when he recoils from the chill of Taeyong’s cock. Yukhei hangs his head low and groans, willing his muscles to relax around the length of ice intruding inside him. His entrance hugs greedily around Taeyong, nearly unyielding even after Ten’s extensive fingerplay, and it seems ages before Yukhei’s rear meets Taeyong’s hips. The strange pressure inside him isn’t exactly comfortable, yet he can endure it to see the subtle tension on Taeyong’s normally impassive face. Taeyong’s thick eyebrows are drawn in and his parted lips release shaky breaths. His pleasure is slight and already he’s losing his composure in Yukhei’s body.

It’s just the reaction Yukhei hoped to witness.

Finding confidence, Yukhei rises without Taeyong’s aid and drops down around Taeyong. Their gasps come paired and Yukhei’s soft length throbs to life, stirred by Taeyong’s responsiveness. Yukhei attempts Ten’s masterful dance from earlier, winding and rolling his hips, rising high and falling sharply, but he’s graceless at best and tires too quickly. When his thighs tremble, Taeyong takes his waist to smoothly guide his lower body, burying full in his warmth without rest.

The unraveling fervor enthralls Yukhei. He nearly forgets his job isn’t finished until Ten’s front aligns with his back, a vexed huff of breath burning Yukhei’s ear. “You’re enjoying yourselves? Without me? Unforgivable.”

A palm between his shoulder blades shoves Yukhei to his elbows, his chest lying over Taeyong’s collarbone. Taeyong cups a cheek in each hand and lewdly spreads Yukhei for Ten’s viewing, making another blush light up Yukhei’s face from how exposed he is.

Then, Ten’s hard arousal prods at Yukhei’s slick rim with intent and embarrassment is dumped at the wayside.

Taking Taeyong was uncomfortable. Taking Ten in addition is acute _agony._ The spirits assuage it with tender kisses along his shoulder and caressing hands along his lower back, but Yukhei still clenches his teeth and snivels into Taeyong’s hair as Ten pushes, breaches, and pushes more. Yukhei has dislocated his shoulder and stepped on sharp rakes with less tears, yet he doesn’t the feel need to hide his vulnerability from Ten and Taeyong. He melts into their comforting touches to drown out the sting of Ten’s intermittent movement.

He doesn’t even realize Ten is fully seated inside him until Taeyong coos praises into his neck. “Beautiful, beautiful, my hero is so perfect,” he says with another press of cool lips to Yukhei’s neck. “You’re were magnificent.”

“And I thought…you’d be all bravado,” Ten admits with his mouth along Yukhei’s spine, sounding worse for wear himself. Yukhei’s smug smirk is hidden in Taeyong’s seafoam curls. “I suppose I underestimated you.”

Taeyong gasps dramatically. “Praise? From Ten? A hard-fought reward to come by.”

“Please. He’s worthy of it, just this once.”

Their flattery words gratify more than he’d like to admit, his erection renewing with every sweet word. He’s moving unconsciously, rutting his sizable neediness against the taut plane of Taeyong’s stomach, purring deep in his chest.

Taeyong’s grasp on Yukhei’s rear becomes bruising. “Oh, I think he’s ready. Don’t you?”

“As he’ll ever be.”

Yukhei dearly wishes this was true.

Ten pulls back first, only the tip of his cock gripped by Yukhei’s rim, then he thrusts just as Taeyong pulls back, the chill of Taeyong’s cock swiftly replaced by flames. “Oh! Ohh…_fates._” Yukhei tries not to be loud, not this soon, but the spirits work with such practiced fluidity, filling him with ice and fire and _ice_ and _fire_, never giving his senses the chance to prepare or recover.

Yukhei is clawing into the sheets, arching his back, biting his lip raw and moaning his throat hoarse. Their cocks glide against his walls with dizzying precision, battering the same spot Ten’s fingers teased to make Yukhei’s mind blank. It’s even more maddening now with their bodies caging him in and their labored breaths in his ear and their fingers leaving indents in his skin. Yukhei is surrounded, _stuffed_, whole.

Ten and Taeyong know when he wants more without a word spoken, they can tell just from the clench of his muscles around their engorged lengths, and they put more strength behind their thrusts to until his cries compete with the harsh slaps of moist flesh for dominance. Yukhei can find release from this alone, from Ten and Taeyong possessing and adoring his body inside and out, from the sound of their pleasured groans echoing around their room. The hands that fists his cock is too much for how sensitive he is so soon after his first release, then Ten and Taeyong tighten their arms around his middle and bury inside him as one.

For a moment in time, Yukhei is one with his past lives.

…

_“…well, isn’t he a pitiful…_”

…

“_…nothing I can do, I’m afraid. There’s no ginger root aboard…_”

…

“_…good kick is all he…_”

“Ah-ow!”

Yukhei sits up from the floor and rubs his throbbing shin bone. “What the hell was that for?” He glares at Ten, who’s standing above him looking positively unapologetic. Last Yukhei remembers, the spirits retreated into his sword and shield, guaranteeing him a briefly peaceful rest.

“You’ve slept more than enough, lout. The sun is already showing its head. Get up.”

Taeyong kneels at Yukhei’s side and scans him from head to foot. “Are you still unwell? You appearance was rather…green when we departed port.”

Disoriented, it takes Yukhei a few turns of his head to realize where he is, a passenger cabin inside the ship sailing to the northern continent. The ship barely shoved off from the docks before the rock and sway on the deck turned his stomach sour and he was minutes away from losing his generous breakfast over the portside rail.

Seasickness. How could he have known?

The other occupants of the cabin are already gone. It must be late into the morning. Yukhei yawns as he climbs to his feet, massaging his stiff neck. The wooden floorboards creek under his weight. “I’m all right. Well, I’m not dying at least.”

Taeyong stands and nods, relieved. “I’m pleased to hear this. Admittedly, I’m only capable at mending flesh wounds. Internal ailments are somewhat out of my—”

“Taeyong,” Ten calls with an insistent raise of his eyebrows. Taeyong blinks at him, then turns again to Yukhei.

“Oh, yes, that’s right. You see, we have reason for waking you.”

As if prompted, a man’s horrified shriek comes from the deck above them. Yukhei jumps, glances at the ceiling and then at the spirits patiently waiting for his groggy mind to catch up.

Yukhei snatches up his weapons and hurries to the deck.

He doesn’t know what he expected to find, maybe giant crustaceans with deadly pincers or skeletal pirates aboard a ghostly pirate ship. Instead, a colossal jellyfish has commandeered the sky above them—a bari, with long tentacles that pulse with electricity and a translucent bell swarming with it’s numerous biri offspring.

The few passengers and deckhands who don’t run below deck for cover are outmatched, swinging wooden mop sticks and slinging arrows only to be swatted by the bari’s tentacles and paralyzed from the neck down. Only the robust captain holds her own, spitting tobacco at the overgrown jellyfish and slicing through its delicate limbs.

Yukhei is already steeled for battle, fiercely eying the violent rain of tentacles from above. The bari’s body flies out of his reach. He can only follow the captain’s example and slashing at tentacles as the approach, but they total in the dozens and Yukhei can’t watch his own back.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone.

“Your daring is impressive, but you’re outnumbered,” Taeyong states from behind him. Yukhei glances over his shoulder, sees Taeyong wrestling with two tentacles intended for Yukhei’s back before Ten’s foot rips through them.

“We’ll assist. I expect your gratitude after!” Ten flies past Yukhei into the sky, evading the bari’s grabs for his limbs as he sets to work severing its limbs one by one. They regenerate as quickly as he tears them, yet he succeeds in drawing the jellyfish attention to him, luring it low to the ship’s portside.

Yukhei is sprinting toward it as soon as he has an opening, joined soon by Ten and Taeyong racing at each side. “All right!” he shouts to them with an adrenaline-powered grin. “Let’s finish this! Together!”

Yukhei kicks off the ship’s railing, soars through the air, and poises his sword to strike.

**●●●**

**Author's Note:**

> [@twt](https://twitter.com/reinefleche)


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